eXtension Professional Development

This month there are "30 Minute Sessions" on a several topics including a quick way to find Extension educational materials, writing for online audiences for Moodle or webpages, and getting started in Second Live. Give us 30 minutes and we'll teach you something useful!

In addition there are a few 60 Minute sessions on a more indepth topic and for discussions including the first in a series on Google App Engine, Ask an Expert Widgets & discussion, and the monthly Question Wrangler meetup.

August 11 at 2:00 ET: Writing for Online Audiences by Jennifer Jahedkar Texas AgriLife ExtensionWhether in a Moodle course or on a webpage, an online audience needs materials to be organized, and presented differently. Join us to learn what that means and see before and after examples. For all Extension.

August 18 at 2:00 - 3:00 ET: Getting Started With Google App Engine1 hour session (first in a series) - by Jason Young, eXtension. Google App Engine is a service from Google for quickly and easily deploying web applications in the same scalable environment that powers Google's own webapps. This session is the first in a series of sessions that will guide participants in creating their own web apps on App Engine. We'll start by getting everyone up and running and deploying their first "hello world" application. For all Extension.

August 19th at 2:00 - 3:00 ET, Beginning with the Ask an Expert Widget by Aaron Hundley and Ask an Expert Discussion Double Header by Aaron Hundley and Beth Raney Learn the basics of the Ask an Expert System with Widgets and stick around for the AaE Discussion for current participants of the AaE system. How to use the Ask eXtension widget to receive and answer questions directly from your county Extension web site or Extension-related website. This widget adds question asking capabilities to your site, but uses the power of the eXtension Ask an Expert and FAQ systems to assist you in answering. Take questions from your clients, and use the 40,000 questions in the FAQ system to assist you in providing a timely and accurate answer.This session will introduce you to the Ask an Expert system, the Ask an Expert widget, show you the latest features developed, and will discuss what is necessary to begin using it immediately in your own county sites and blogs with helpful tips. Then we will have a conversation to discuss current implementations and ideas for the AaE system with those who have been working in the AaE system. For all Extension.

August 24 at 2:00 - 3:00 ET: Question Wrangler Monthly Meetup with Beth Raney and Kevin Gamble, eXtension An opportunity for state Question Wranglers who help with questions submitted via Ask an Expert by the public at www.extension.org, to get familiar with your role, the tools available to make it easier, and share experiences & tips. For eXtension Question Wranglers.

August 26 at 2:00 ET, Using eXtension's Custom Search to Locate Extension Educational Materials One of the most widely used tools developed and supported by eXtension is the Google Custom Search engine that looks through all the known Cooperative Extension Web sites and return relevant materials. Recently, eXtension has added some enhancements to make it easier for Extension professionals to add additional Web sites. This session will show you how the tool works, demonstrate adding additional sites, and provide examples of how it can be used to support Extension educational efforts. For all Extension. but especially useful to agents and educators.

August 31 at 2:00 ET: Getting started in Second Life. Registration, avatar creation, orientation, and ways to use this virtual environment to enhance your programming.For all Extension.

SECOND LIFE

Second Life is an immersive 3-D virtual online environment, free to the public, and used by educators from around the world for teaching and collaboration. eXtension will help you get started by providing space, training, and technical assistance. Instructions for entering Second Life are at www.thynkalittle.com or http://collaborate.extension.org/wiki/Cooperative_Extension_Second_Life_Educators LuAnn Phillips, eXtension Virtual Worlds Coordinator, is available to assist you in world, and can be reached at luann.phillips@extension.org, by instant message to Thynka Little in Second Life, or at www.thynkalittle.com

August Second Life Events:

August 3, 2:00-3:00 EDT: (11-12:00 SLT) Second planning meeting for Virtual State Fair week to be held live in Second Life October 6th - 10th. Meet in Adobe Connect at http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/extension3d/ or in Second Life at the Virtual County Extensionhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Morrill2/181/172/24

August 24 at 3:00 - 4:00 EDT: (12-11:00 SLT), Third planning meeting for Virtual State Fair week to be held live in Second Life October 6th- 10th. Meet in Adobe Connect at http://connect.ksre.ksu.edu/extension3d/ or in Second Life at the Virtual County Extensionhttp://slurl.com/secondlife/Morrill2/181/172/24

August 27: Second Life Meetup -- 11:00-12:30 SL time (Pacific), 2:00-3:30 ET. Meet at the Virtual County Extension http://slurl.com/secondlife/Morrill2/181/172/24. Scavenger Hunt!Trophy for the winning team. This is a great practice session for new SL users.

August 31 at2:00-2:30 ET (30 min. session): Getting started in Second Life. Registration, avatar creation, orientation, and ways to use this virtual environment to enhance your programming. Go to http://connect.extension.iastate.edu/learn

Add these dates & topics to your calendar, and plan to join us on for one or more of these sessions in August!

TO PARTICIPATE in any of the sessions held in our Web Conferencing Center...

You will be presented with a login screen that has an "Enter as Guest" option.

Enter your first name, your last name, and your institution/university, then click the "Enter Room" button to join the conference.

To hear the audio of the workshop and participate in the Q&A portion of the workshop we will be using a built-in teleconferencing capability of Adobe's Connect Pro conferencing software. Once you log into the meeting you will be presented with the option to enter your call-back number, your phone will automatically be called. After entering your number you will be automatically called and joined into the audio portion of the Web conference on your phone.